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The Great Lower East Side Pickle War

By Sewell Chan July 5, 2007 1:14 pmJuly 5, 2007 1:14 pm

(Illustration: Lisa Haney)

Even as the beloved, traditional Jewish food establishments of the Lower East Side seem to be locked into an irrecoverable downward spiral — the death of Gertel’s bakery being the most recent example — a war has been raging over who is the legitimate heir to the Guss’s pickle empire that once ruled over Essex Street.

It is a war that evokes the fractious pushcart vendors on Hester Street — where Izzy Guss, a Russian émigré, founded his pickle business in the 1910s — but is now conducted against a backdrop of the modern-day, gentrified, luxury-condo-dominated neighborhood.

Izzy Guss just might be turning over in his grave.

Let’s recap some of the basics of this war, as Cara Buckley recounted last November.

Mr. Guss died in 1975. His store, which opened in 1920 on Hester Street and eventually moved to Essex Street, was sold to Harold Baker, whose son, Tim, a pickle apprentice and now master, eventually took over the business.

Guss’s Pickles had a longstanding relationship with the Leibowitz family — the patriarch Max, a son David, a grandson Stephen and now a great-grandson Andrew — who supplied the pickles and now co-own United Pickle Products in the Bronx. It is reputedly the largest family-owned pickle wholesaler on the East Coast.

In 2002, Andrew N. Leibowitz opened a Guss’s Pickles shop in Cedarhurst, N.Y. His father, Stephen A. Leibowitz, who calls himself chief pickle maven of United Pickle and supplies his son’s shop, says the family bought the rights to Guss’s Pickles from Mr. Baker. The family trademarked the name Guss’s Pickles that year.

Mr. Baker continued to run a Lower East Side store until 2004, when he decided to get out of the business to care for his ailing mother. Stephen Leibowitz says his family turned down an offer from Mr. Baker to buy the store.

In came Patricia Fairhurst, who bought the lease to the store — now on Orchard Street — and continued to use the name Guss’s Pickles. (Both she and the Leibowitz family actually use the name Guss’ Pickles, preserving the original punctuation and omitting the final S.)

Ms. Fairhurst and the Leibowitz family got along at first; she used the Guss name and bought the family’s pickles. That suddenly changed, according to the Leibowitzes, in 2006, when Ms. Fairhurst decided to buy her pickles from another supplier. The Leibowitzes asserted that she would have to stop using the Guss name. They set up a Guss’s Pickles Web site that asserts that theirs are the only true Guss’s Pickles.

Ms. Fairhurst retaliated by filing a federal lawsuit [pdf] in which she denied she was infringing on any trademark. She accused the Leibowitzes of unfair competition and “tortious interference.” The Leibowitz family, in answering the lawsuit [pdf], denied the accusations. The Leibowitzes also filed a counterclaim [pdf] asserting that they have the exclusive right to the Guss’s Pickles trademark.

Ms. Fairhurst has recently gone on a public relations offensive. In a New York Post article today, she criticized Whole Foods Market — including its newest branch, on Bowery in the Lower East Side — for carrying the Leibowitzes’ pickles. “They never came from me,” Ms. Fairhurst told The Post. “I am Guss’s Pickles.”

Not so, says Stephen Leibowitz. “She did not buy Guss’s Pickles,” he said in a phone interview. “She bought a pickle stand.”

For now, Whole Foods is standing by the Leibowitzes. “We’ve always carried these pickles, for many, many years,” said Fred Shank, a spokesman for the supermarket chain. “We believe we are selling the original Guss’s Pickles.”

The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, meanwhile, seems to be siding with Ms. Fairhurst. It has a Web page that is devoted to the fabled eateries of the neighborhood and that characterizes Ms. Fairhurst as the heir to the Guss tradition.

(Daniel Arnheim, a spokesman for the museum, says the Web site “was part of an ongoing series of articles meant to support and promote good will among local merchants.” He said in an e-mail message: “We’re not taking sides and don’t wish to be presented as taking sides in this dispute. … It was not intended as endorsing one purveyor vs. another.”)

Meanwhile — as if this could possibly get more complicated — a third pickle business, The Pickle Guys, was started in 2003 by Alan Kaufman and other former employees of Guss’s Pickles. They were dismayed that the original business had left Essex Street, its home for so many years. Mr. Kaufman’s Web site boasts, “Today we are the only pickle store that exists on Essex Street.”

All three businesses — Andrew Leibowitz’s Guss’s Pickles of Cedarhurst, N.Y.; Patricia Fairhurst’s Guss’s Pickles of Orchard Street; and Alan Kaufman’s Pickle Guys of Essex Street — say they sell rabbinically supervised kosher pickles. All are closed on Saturdays in observance of the Jewish Sabbath. All claim that their recipes are faithful to the traditions of Izzy Guss.

If the above articule contained only the uncontroverted facts, then I’d have to say that the Leibowitz family are the legimate heirs to the pickle legacy of Izzy Gus.

Per my understanding, the chain of Intellectual Property goes from Izzy Baker the original proprietor, to Harold Baker who bought the store, to Mr. Baker’s son Tim. The article is not clear whether it was Tim or Harold that sold the rights to Guss’ Pickles in 2002 to Andrew N. Leibowitz. This is problematic, because only the legitimate rights holder could have made that sale.

Really I’m only focusing the inquiry on what Andrew N. Leibowitz actually owns, and who he got it from. If he doesn’t have legal ownership of the intellectual property rights, then perhaps Ms. Fairchild does since she was the eventual purchaser of the shop owned by the Bakers.

I’m not sure the other responders are giving this matter the consideration it deserves. Seriously, the passing of Izzy Guss is but another sad event in the demise of a cultural period in New York. Ratner’s, Izzy Guss, Shmulka Bernstein, the Second Avenue Deli…all gone.

I actually knew Izzy. Not well, mind you, but well enough to schmooze with him (and get a container of full garlic sours gratis) when I accompanied my father (may he rest in peace) to visit Guss’s to talk shop (my father being a deli owner).

With everybody bemoaning the loss of the traditional Jewish eateries on the Lower East Side, we should all be heartened by this “food fight”! While I personally favor Ba-Tampte Kosher pickles (regardless of where they’re from), it’s still exciting to have the choice and not be relegated to mass-market pickles.

Anonymous (who noted that several bloggers have written about the latest wrinkle in the the pickle war): Mea culpa. I’m always happy to give credit where it is due. Would you be so kind as to send me some links, either by posting another comment here or through an e-mail to CityRoom@nytimes.com. Thank you for reading and for your interest.

sounds to me like no one is selling “Original” Guss’ pickles anymore, whatever they may be called. The Original Guss’ pickles died with Guss, it seems to me. The Leibowitz’s and Ms. Fairhurst may both be selling tasty pickles, but imhho, they’re NOT Guss’s.

What a pickle indeed! After growing up on NY’s East Side and eating countless great barrel pickles, it’s so sad to hear about the loss of another NY tradition. A few years ago I dragged my husband to experience the GREAT Jewish street pickle, and to my dismay – they were gone. We walked over to Orchard street, but it was NOT the same. There was nothing like ’em and certainly here on the west coast, you can’t even come close.

This is the problem with small business, they tend to think small and focus on each other. They all have fresh tasting, artisinal pickles (not industrial pickles that come in jars). Maybe the term Guss’ Pickles would better be remembered for the craft of making good food as opposed to who might have been where and when….I’m a food lover.

Factually, it would appear that the Leibowitz family is the rightful owner of the Guss’ name. However, as an LES resident and pickle fan, there is absolutely no question that The Pickle Guys sell a FAR superior pickle and run what appears to be a MUCH cleaner operation than Ms. Fairhurst’s. And I am in no way connected of any of them.

We welcome all Pickle People!! Eat a pickle, like it, eat another pickle,any pickle. It’s not a commitment for goodness sake. Enjoy them all! Anyone willing to stand out on Orchard St. &sell pickles from a barrel, all year long, gets extra points! Just passed Ms. Fairhurst yesterday and we both said hello, like good neighbors. Isn’t that also the point..YUM its a good life, as long as it isn’t a generic Starbuck pickle, yuck.

Do NOT get me going about pickles! Some yrs ago WASHINGTONIAN magazine had a ‘best pickle contest’
Needless to say the winners were wimpy cukes saturated in vinegar. The one I picked,and which the editor of the contest, from NYC, also chose came in LAST.
Mendel’s Hamish Barrel Cured. Cured in brine and garlic, redolent of Sunday breakfasts at my Aunt Fanny’s in Brooklyn. He was nice enough to publish my letter of protest and the local grocery store (GIANT) IMMEDIATELY discontinued the line. I have been without a decent pickle for over a decade.
OY VEY.

I’d like to see more comments about pickle taste and fewer about the legalities. I’ve been to both Guss’ and Pickle Guys and got some decent sour pickles at each, but the Upper West Side is more convenient for me and Fine & Schapiro on 72nd Street and Artie’s on Broadway near 83rd are inconsistent as to whether you can get a full-sour pickle that doesn’t crunch (which is what I am used to and what I want).
If anybody has leads on how to get crunchless full-sour pickles anywhere in NY, I hope they report that here.

Years ago, one could sniff the air before Passover and know that Guss was grinding horseradish on essex. The Lower East side has certainly changed over the years. I calways loved to drive there from Connecticut so I could shop shop shop and eat.

ex-New Yorker here, living in Philadelphia thinks that poster who said to concentrate on all of them, if their goooood tasting pickles. As well, I’m kind of a Ba-Tampte guy myself (WHICH MAKE CRUNCHLESS FULL SOURS, YUM!), but I still have fond memories for the barrels of Giss’ on the East Side. Let us all not forget the wonderful hot cherry peppers, and sauerkraut. Yum

The story brings back memories! I lived at 13 Essex Street for most of the 1970s and occasionally bought pickles at Guss’ Pickles. The pickles were OK, but the real fun was talking with the employees, who seemed to know everything about the neighborhood and were willing to share their stories with a young teacher who – for some reason which they couldn’t fathom but didn’t criticize – had chosen to live down the street from their pickle barrels. When I returned about five years ago and saw that the shop had closed I was sad for the passing of an historical landmark.

However, I was even sadder when I saw that the wonderful Miller’s Cheeses shop which was on the ground floor of 13 Essex had closed. I learned to love cheese with the guidance of the owners and employees of that store, and I’ve often wondered what happened to them. Today, although the neighborhood is infinitely safer because of the influx of families from China, you can’t get any good cheese. Also, I couldn’t get into the building to see my old apartment because the Millers weren’t around to let me in through their back door which they used to do whenever I forgot my key. This old “goy” says a loud “Thank you” to the Millers for their cheese and their kindness.
Mike O’Shea

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